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A Letter from the President

Posted 05th Oct, 2018

by Amy McBain

Hello! To those of you who are new to ACE, welcome to our community. To those of you who have been with us for any number of our 40 years – thank you for your continued support and for your role in making this community what it is today.

Had I done a bit of simple math after the 38th Annual ACE Awards, before running for Vice President, I might’ve realized ahead of time that I was volunteering to lead our organization through the momentous occasion of our 40th year. Alas, I did not. So here I find myself – alongside a wonderful board of directors from across our industry – honoured, excited, and only a touch nervous as we dive into planning this milestone year for our members.

Heading into the year, I want to take a moment to let you know that ACE is facing some new challenges resulting from a shift in our financial situation, and you may notice some changes to our programming in the coming months in response. We’re working as a board to ensure that our budgets and efforts are optimized on the type of programming that delivers the highest value to our members and stays most true to our core values as an organization. This will mean some consolidation and format changes to our usual events*. In other words, you may notice fewer ACE events overall, but instead, a higher priority on the quality, value to members, and financial sustainability of our programming**.

There are a few different factors that have shifted our financial situation in recent years, including things like the fiscal requirements tied to our status as a not-for-profit organization, and the progressive decline in profitability of our annual Ad Auction fundraiser. If you have any questions about ACE’s finances or the coming changes, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me to chat in more detail.

While at times daunting, it has been an inspiring and invigorating process to have these big conversations with our stakeholders about the value of ACE in our community, and I couldn’t have asked for a better team than our 2018/19 Board of Directors to be navigating these challenges with. We are so excited to deliver another great year of learning, connection, camaraderie, and friendly competition in the wonderful tradition of ACE, and we thank you for your trust and support as we work to secure the club’s future for another 40 years and beyond.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, and I look forward to seeing you all throughout the year.